Police searching for Westchester newspaper heiress in the Hudson

September 26, 2009

Fourteen years ago, Anne Morell Petrillo’s stepfather Scott Douglas left his BMW running on the Tappan Zee Bridge and jumped. Douglas, the second husband of Scripps newspaper heiress Anne Scripps Douglas, murdered his wife with a hammer when she tried to leave him.

When his body was found three months later, Petrillo said “The nightmare is over.”

It seems not all the nightmares were over for Ms. Petrillo, who is believed to have left her own BMW and jumped off the same bridge on Thursday. Dangerous water conditions have hampered the search for the body.

The Douglas case was an early boost in the career of then-fledgling prosecutor Jeanine Pirro. Ms. Pirro, who was Andrew Cuomo’s Republican opponent in last year’s AG race, told reporters “I think it’s tragic. The irony is absolutely stunning.”